Have you been here?

Judging from what the UK press will tell you, everything exciting in London now happens out on the periphery, particularly in the still-buzzy, ever-scruffy East End. But while we were all looking elsewhere—to Shoreditch and Spitalfields, Hackney and Hoxton—a funny thing happened back in Central London: It never really went away. Perhaps spurred by its upstart eastern rivals, the West End has gotten a lot more interesting of late. Soho, despite rising rents, still has more good food per square foot than any other neighborhood. Even the tourist-clogged lanes around Covent Garden—once the domain of chains like Pizza Express—are now home to forward-thinking, chef-driven restaurants. Case in point: The Barbary, a sequel to the ragingly popular Palomar, still packing them in off Leicester Square. Both are owned by the team behind Machneyuda, one of the top restaurants in Jerusalem; both are raucous, counter-dining joints. But while The Palomar focuses on Israeli and Mediterranean cuisine, The Barbary leans into the bold, bracing flavors of North Africa’s Barbary Coast. It’s the hottest restaurant in London right now, as evidenced by the perpetual queue outside, next to a pair of (very apropos) olive trees. Once you finally squeeze onto a spindly stool at the horseshoe counter, you’ll need some of the superb, cod-filled Moroccan cigars, to dunk in harissa-spiked yogurt; some plush naan-e-Barbari bread, straight from the clay oven; and tender tentacles of smoky grilled octopus, served mashawsha-style with chickpeas and a velvety tahini. Pair it with some tart Lebanese rosé for full effect. The service is…well, they’re not here to win hospitality awards. What the Barbary excels at is food, most of it wildly good, and noisy clamor, which reaches comical heights for a place with only 24 seats. You won’t hear a damn thing your companion says over the roar, let alone your server, but that’s beside the point: you’re here to eat, drink, laugh and nod along, even if you’re never entirely sure what’s going on. —Peter Jon Lindberg